1. Field
The embodiments discussed herein relate to a wireless communication device/network frame structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a wireless cellular network, users in different parts of a cell usually experience different signal qualities and thus different degrees of Quality of Service (QoS). This is because the channel quality of a user depends on many factors including path loss, shadowing and interference. Users at the cell edge often suffer strong interference from neighboring cells and observe lower Carrier to Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (CINR). In an urban environment, big buildings pose a serious blockage to users behind and sometimes generate coverage holes. Signal penetration and attenuation inside buildings or tunnels also degrade the signal quality significantly. Often it is not possible to improve the signal qualities to these under-serviced areas by increasing the transmission power or changing the antenna configurations. Reducing the cell size and deploying more base stations will improve the situation, but this is often not possible due to limited access to traditional cell sites and wired backhaul links, and the associated high operating cost.